Mike Houston has accepted the East Carolina head-coaching position and will leave James Madison after the Dukes accumulated a 37-6 record and an FCS national title in his three years there, according to 94.3 The Game FM in Greenville, N.C.

JMU announced Houston’s departure Sunday, and he issued a statement. In part, it read: “I could not be more grateful for the opportunity to be part of what I believe is a perfect college environment found at JMU. I will forever be indebted to (athletic director) Jeff Bourne, Vice President Charlie King and President Jonathan Alger for believing in me and handing me the reins to coach the James Madison University football program. There's only one JMU. This is a special place and a place that will be hard to ever replicate in future coaching opportunities.”

In a JMU release, Bourne said, “"We are grateful to Mike Houston, his family and his staff for their commitment to JMU over the last three years. When we hired Mike, he was the right coach at the right time for our program. He injected energy, he went about his job the right way, he cared about our student-athletes and he won. That said, success at James Madison is not determined by one individual. The foundation for success here remains intact.”

The Dukes lost 23-20 to Colgate on a last-play field goal Saturday in the FCS playoffs’ round of 16. JMU was the national champion in 2016, Houston’s first year there, ending North Dakota State’s five-year championship streak in a semifinal. The Dukes lost to NDSU in last year’s championship game.

PRO HOCKEY:

Ty Reichenbach made 47 saves and Ben Duffy added a goal and an assist as the Norfolk Admirals defeated the Orlando Solar Bears 4-3 Sunday to split a two-game ECHL series in Florida.

The Admirals brought home five of a possible six points from a trip and improved to 12-7-1-1, tying them for second place in the South Division.

Duffy was named the game’s first star. Darik Angeli, who had two assists, was the second star, and Patrick D’Amico, who had one, was the third star.